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The son of
LewisMaurice
, who descended from the
Moeliwrch
family in
Llansilin
, by
Jane
, daughter of
JohnHoland
,
vicar
of
Guilsfield
(
1586-1639
), he spent his life at
Cefn-y-braich
or
Ty Newydd
in
Cynllaith
,
Llansilin
. It is said that he erected a building of three stories, locally known as ‘
the Study
,’ to house his library.

He had sufficient means to
collect books and manuscripts
, to
employ copyists
, and to spend his time
copying and studying manuscripts
. In these studies he regarded
RobertVaughan
of
Hengwrt
as his
Gamaliel
. He worked much at
Hengwrt
and
compiled a catalogue of the manuscripts
in the collection. He himself acquired some important
Welsh
manuscripts, e.g. the ‘
White Book of Hergest
,’ which was lost in a fire at a bindery in
Covent Garden
in
1810
, and the manuscript of the
Welsh
laws which his cousin
MeredithLloyd
of
Bryn Elen
gave him (
Wynnstay MS. 36
). He transcribed a
considerable body of Welsh poetry
, and
made a pioneer study of the texts of the Welsh laws
in his ‘
Deddfgrawn
’ or ‘
Corpus Hoelianum
’ (
Wynnstay MSS. 37-8
) in
1660-3
. He was
interested in the early history of Wales and the Celts
. He wrote a letter on
Brennus
to
RobertVaughan
in
1662
(
Wynnstay MS. 12
). Contemporary problems also engaged his attention, and, in
1653
, he wrote a treatise against altar-worship in which he criticised the work of
Dr.GeorgeGriffith
, afterwards
bishop of S. Asaph
, and
RichardJervis
,
vicar
of his own parish. He is also said to have compiled a chronicle of the events of the
Civil War
in
North Wales
.
EvanEvans
(see
Panton MS. 72
) listed over 100 manuscripts which were in his possession or had been written by or for him.

He was twice m. (1), to
Lettice
, daughter of
RogerKynaston
,
Ruabon
, by the daughter and heiress of
RogerEyton
of
Cefn y Carneddau
; by her he had three sons who d. young, and two daughters —
Ann
, wife of
DavidWilliams
of
Glan Alaw
, brother of
(
Sir
)
WilliamWilliams
(
1634
-
1700
),
Speaker of the House of Commons
, and
Lettice
, wife of
Roger
, son of
ThomasGethin
of
Maesbrook
; (2) to
Elizabeth
, daughter of
GeorgeLudlow
of
Morehouse
, and widow of
ThomasGethin
, and by her he had one daughter,
Elizabeth
, who m.
GeorgeJukes
of
Pool
. In
1678
he had a share in
(
Sir
)
WilliamWilliams
's attempt to purchase the
Hengwrt library
.

He was buried at a great age at
Llansilin
,
23 March 1680
. His library he left to his daughter,
Lettice
. It was valued, in
1682
, from a list, at £60 by
EdwardMillington
, and sold to
(
Sir
)
WilliamWilliams
. Until about
1771
it was kept at
Llanvorda
, and then removed to
Wynnstay
, where it was practically
all lost by fire,
5-6 March 1858
. In addition to the manuscripts cited, the chief surviving manuscripts in the hand of
WilliamMaurice
are
Llanst. MSS. 15, 31, 54, and 197
. In some of his manuscripts he used a
Welsh
orthography peculiar to himself, and no manuscript was too precious for him to disfigure with his scrawl.

Sources:

Oxford Dictionary of National
Biography
;

History of the Princes, the Lords Marcher,
and the Ancient Nobility of Powys Fadog
, iv, 252;

The Cambro-Briton
, i, 379-80;

Wynnstay Manuscript at the National Library of
Wales, Aberystwyth
143, 234;

NLW MSS
732, 1505 (418);

The National Library of Wales Journal
, ii, 26-36;

Handlist of Manuscripts in the National
Library of Wales
, I, xvi-xx;
Reports on Manuscripts in the Welsh
Language
(1898–1910)
.